Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr

In church this past Sunday, a priest I know shared with his church congregation four areas of growth as he matured in his Christian walk. Those were to: commit, submit, serve and share. I loved the connection to today’s Gospel reading in John 12 where it reminds us , “whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.”

The priest said that for a long time as a new believer he went to church expecting his spiritual bucket to be filled up, expecting to be served and loved by the church body—and he indeed was. He was greeted into the homes of church families for evening dinners, welcomed by greeters at the doors, invited to youth group meetings and activities, and loved like a brother and son of the local church.

As he grew in his walk and in relationship with the Lord, he began to realize that he was spending most of his time receiving and taking from the church, but was not putting any effort in to giving back to the church. He made the decision to devote himself to the church, just as Paul had suggested. “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

The Father will honor whoever serves Him. He makes it clear that we cannot be only weekly church goers or warm bodies filling a pew. Action is required on our part to work for the Lord, to love him, to love the church, to devote our lives for his cause—every day.